Tuesday 18 January 2011

This is the impressive new Grand Canal Theatre designed by Daniel Libeskind and sketched on a blustery sunny afternoon when the place was almost deserted. It's a wonderful space with the water of the docks off to right, an eclectic mix of building styles and no sense of that identikit dockland's vernacular you seem to find in areas like this the world over.

After a rain shower and the watery sun washes over some interesting apartments beside the distillery buildings in the Smithfield part of town.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Some sketches from Dublin before and after the snowstorms that took up most of December and left the east coast ground to a halt.

George's street and Exchequer street intersection with the ornate George's street arcade in the background. This leads towards Grafton street, the main shopping street on the city's southside

A foggy morning down on the north quays. The whole area is slowly being redeveloped in that generic "waterfront" style - a few statement buildings, acres of office blocks that wouldn't look out of place in a retail park and some carefully restored remnants of the past - but no soot or rust please! On mornings like this when the whole shebang is shrouded in fog and you can taste the seasalt on your face, it somehow seems more visceral and real.

Dame street, just across from Dublin castle with City Hall in the background.